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Audit proposes $1.2 billion cut in state budget

By MICHAEL HOLMESAssociated Press WriterAUSTIN - Eliminating state government jobs, making certain college professors teach full loads and renewing drivers' licenses every 12 years are among ideas that would help Texas save $1.2 billion over the next two years.

Those are among 428 penny-pinching proposals Comptroller John Sharp will make to the 1997 Legislature as lawmakers look for cash to fund government and, perhaps, fulfill Gov. George W. Bush's wish of providing property tax relief to homeowners and businesses.

The cost-cutting recommendations follow the fourth top-to-bottom audit of the state bureaucracy since 1991.

Sharp said Wednesday that the Legislature has enacted enough proposals from the three previous audits to save $8 billion in six years.

``There are always incredibly strange things that government does that can be fixed,'' Sharp said.

Among key cost-cutting recommendations:

- Trimming 1,720 current state employees from the payroll, and eliminating funding for 6,600 ``phantom bureaucrats'' - state jobs that are on the books but not filled.

- Extending from four to 12 years the period during which a Texas driver's license would be valid and streamlining its renewal. A higher one-time fee would be good until age 60.

- Lowering state funding to colleges and universities where teachers don't spend sufficient time in the classroom.

- Charging prison inmates for health care.

- Reducing the number of local election dates each year from four to two.

If all recommendations were enacted by the Legislature, Sharp said savings would total $3.5 billion over the next five years.

The savings are being proposed at the same time the governor is pushing to provide relief from the $10 billion a year levied in local school property taxes. Property taxes make up the bulk of funding for public schools in Texas.

Last month, Bush proposed easing property taxes by $1 billion, to be paid for by lower state spending and higher-than-expected government income.

Sharp said Wednesday that the state treasury is on course to wind up with a cash balance of about $1.4 billion.

Add to that the $1.2 billion in savings proposed by the audit plus expected revenue growth over the next two years, and providing at least some property tax relief might be easier.

Enacting his savings proposals, Sharp said, ``makes it an awfully lot less painful'' for lawmakers to approve some measure of property tax relief.

Bush, a Republican, said he welcomed Democrat Sharp's money-saving ideas and predicted lawmakers would give them close scrutiny.

``I look forward to working with the Legislature as it develops a balanced budget that funds our priorities while offering the taxpayers significant relief,'' Bush said.

The audit called for eliminating a total of 8,320 of the 261,000 state jobs.

Sharp said the 1,720 layoffs could be accomplished through early retirement incentives, attrition and other measures. The 6,600 empty job slots should be abolished, he said.

Many state agencies use the ghost workers to give them more budget flexibility, Sharp said, allowing them to shift money into other programs. He said the number of ghost workers had risen 55 percent since 1988.

``State government already costs Texans enough, without phantom bureaucrats adding to the tab,'' he said, estimating those savings at $470 million.

Sharp said modern computer technology allows issuing a lifetime driver's license, with free-of-charge renewals every 12 years, that would save money for Texas motorists and government and not jeopardize public safety.

The audit proposed a one-time fee of $85 for drivers aged 18-24, and slightly less for older motorists, to obtain their license.

Over the years, motorists who remained in Texas would save money over the $16 fee now charged for renewal every four years. For example, it said, an 18-year-old paying the $85 fee would be covered for 42 years, compared with the $176 he wold pay under the current system.

Vandals again hit downtown sites

By PEGGY McCRACKENStaff WriterPECOS, Dec. 5, 1996 - Pecos Police discovered three broken windows in downtown Pecos about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday upon responding to a burglar alarm set off at Fonville Jewelers, 204 S. Oak St.

Investigator Orlando Franco said that one officer was only a few blocks away when the alarm sounded, and as he turned to respond, he saw the lights of a vehicle leaving the scene.

Owners reported Wednesday night they could detect nothing missing from the show window, but will have to do an inventory to determine if anything was stolen, Franco said.

Richard Crider and Oscar Rodriguez replaced the window this morning.

The vandals had apparently already broken out the glass front door to the Texas Employment Commission office at 214 W. Second Street and a picture window on the building across the street, formerly the American Insurance Co. offices.

Texas Employment Commission's broken front door was replaced this morning, but the window across the street still had a curtain hanging out between shards of glass.

Franco said that a blunt instrument appears to be the weapon used; possibly a rock.

Police are investigating the incident as criminal mischief.

It's the second incident in the past several months of windows being broken out in the downtown area. American National Insurance, Pecos Insurance and Needleworks were among the downtown buildings hit in the Sept. 12 incident.

Outcome of special election may cause

little difference in state Senate's operations

By MARK BABINECKAssociated Press WriterLUBBOCK - The party of Abe Lincoln is poised to take another step toward recovering from the Civil War, just in time for the 21st century.

A smattering of voters from one of the Texas' most conservative regions could install the first Republican majority in an Austin legislative chamber since Reconstruction.

Nominally, a runoff victory Dec. 10 by Republican state Rep. Robert Duncan over Democratic ex-Lubbock mayor David Langston in their special election battle for John Montford's Texas Senate seat would be one for the record books.

Practically, no one knows quite what to make of it.

``I'm not sure an observer is going to be able to tell much of a difference,'' said state Sen. Bill Ratliff, R-Mount Pleasant, the chamber's highest ranking Republican who this fall was named chair of the powerful Finance Committee by Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock. ``I don't know how you can be any more successful with the governor's agenda than we were the last time. I think it's going to be very much a session like last time.''

The ``last time'' refers to the 1995 assembly that featured the dulcet tones of Bullock, Republican Gov. George W. Bush and Democratic House Speaker Pete Laney, who orchestrated the session in three-part harmony.

On Tuesday, Bush said a Republican majority in the Texas Senate would be important for the party, but not necessarily decisive for policy making.

Bush was among a legion of high-profile Republicans at a luncheon Tuesday on behalf of Duncan in his race against Langston, a Democrat who resigned as Lubbock's mayor to make the race, in next Tuesday's runoff election.

The election covers a district that spreads over a wide area of West Texas, including far northern Reeves County. Fewer than 20 voters in the county are eligible to participate in the election, for which early voting concludes on Friday.

If Duncan wins, the GOP would have its first legislative majority since Reconstruction. Duncan and Langston were the top vote getters in a Nov. 5 special election, although Duncan enjoys a large financial advantage.

The Texas Senate traditionally has granted the lieutenant governor broad power, which could be endangered if the majority party isn't his own.

``I do believe it will be easier to get a conservative agenda through the state Senate in the long run,'' Bush said of a majority GOP Senate.

However, Bush said he doesn't believe that scenario would alter his congenial relationship with Democratic Lt. Gov. Bob Bullock.

``I think (a GOP majority) is important to show people who have worked hard in the Republican Party that we're making good gains,'' Bush said.

The Nov. 5 general election left the state Senate essentially with a 15-14 GOP advantage and two open seats. A Duncan victory would ensure a Republican majority.

If Langston wins, the focus shifts to Democrat Jim Turner's East Texas district. Turner is leaving for the U.S. House, and the parties could engage in a winner-take-all scrape there to determine the 31st and final seat.

The lieutenant governor's traditionally powerful role as president of the Senate comes from the chamber's own rules, not the constitution.

``The Republican majority could have a really determinative impact on the operation of the Senate,'' Democratic Party spokeswoman Anne Marie Kilday conceded.

Democrats still would hold a majority had Turner and Montford not departed in the middle of their four-year terms. Now, each has left his party exposed to the GOP in regions where Republicans have winning track records.

Four top Senate Republicans, including Ratliff, met with Bullock following the election to discuss committee chairmanships. The rendezvous upset Bullock, though both sides since have tried to put a congenial face on it.

``I think we either did a bad job of conveying what we were trying to say or he misunderstood what we were trying to say,'' Ratliff said. ``It's certainly water under the bridge. I don't perceive anything lasting coming of it.''

Duncan, a two-term Lubbock legislator who has concentrated on tort reform and higher education funding, finished slightly ahead of Langston in the general election.

``The reason why a Republican majority makes a difference rests in our ability to make state government leaner and more responsible to Texas and Texans,'' he said.

Duncan and Langston, both attorneys, are battling to represent Lubbock, Big Spring, about half of Odessa, a third of San Angelo, a smidge of El Paso and scores of West Texas communities in between.

Langston, who once worked for former Democratic U.S. Rep. George Mahon in Washington, urges voters to remember the party he credits with the existence of Texas Tech, its companion medical school and Reese Air Force Base.

``I'm concerned about representing the people of West Texas,'' he said. ``I'm not seeking to represent the Democratic Party, the Austin lobby, special interests or anyone else.''

Langston points to Duncan's representation of insurance companies before the Texas Workers' Compensation Commission while serving on the House Insurance Committee as an unethical conflict of interest.

Duncan, who had raised more than $250,000 compared to Langston's $50,000 according to the most recent reports, has received large sums from out of district, something Langston has criticized.

Duncan's camp rebuts that he's worked for a streamlined insurance system and has voted for bills the industry has opposed. Duncan submits that his foe hasn't received any out-of-district support because no one is willing to bet on him.

``It's quite possible that if the balance of power does shift to Republicans, then you may have a situation where the Lieutenant Governor is not provided with the traditional powers usually accorded to him,'' Morris said. ``You could see a significant decrease in his institutional power.''

Despite the threat, Ms. Kilday agrees with Ratliff that Bullock will remain key to the legislative process this winter, regardless of party makeup.

``One can never overlook the force of Bullock's personality and his statewide name recognition,'' Ms. Kilday said.

Pecan show's winners to be displayed Friday

By ROSIE FLORESStaff WriterPECOS, Dec. 5, 1996 - Things will be kind of "nutty" on Friday at Security State Bank, when growers and bakers gather for the 1996 Reeves-Loving Counties Pecan Show.

The show has been set to begin at 10 a.m. in the lobby of the bank and will feature the best pecans and pecan food entries.

Entries were shown and judged by variety and judging was held Wednesday, for Friday's public viewing.

Plaques were awarded to the Champion Pecan Entries in each variety division. Rosettes went to the Grand and Reserve Champion entry. First, second and third place ribbons were awarded in each variety division.

Pecans must have been from the exhibitor's 1996 Crop and entries were accepted from Reeves and Loving Counties only.

Each entry consisted of 45-50 pecans of the same variety. Mixed varieties were disqualified.

Rosettes will be awarded to the Grand and Reserve Champion food entry in adult and youth divisions. Also, a rosette will be awarded for the "Best Use of Pecans" and "Best of Show" overall.

The two divisions are adult (19 and older) and youth (0-18).

The classes are breads, candy, pies, cookies, cakes and miscellaneous.

Pecans must be an ingredient in the recipe and pecans for food exhibits do not have to be grown by the exhibitor.

The entire recipe must be entered for judging. In the cookies and candy divisions, individuals will enter a sample of two dozen.

The recipe must be submitted with each entry.

The annual event is hosted by Security State Bank and jointly sponsored by Pecos Chamber of Commerce and Texas Agricultural Extension Service.

`Giving Tree' given help by Youth Commission

By PEGGY McCRACKENStaff WriterPECOS, Dec. 5, 1996 - Ten children will have a brighter Christmas, thanks to members of the Pecos Youth Advisory Commission who took it upon themselves to buy gifts for the "Giving Tree" at First National Bank.

In their Tuesday night meeting, the commission voted to ride on a fire truck in the Christmas Parade, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13.

Then on Dec. 20 they will distribute turkeys to needy families.

The second meeting of December was scheduled for Dec. 17, but due to a conflict with the Planning and Zoning Board Meeting set for 6 p.m. that day, the council will hold a business meeting at 9 a.m. Dec. 20, just prior to the turkey delivery.

Sara Matta is president of the commission, which advises the City Council on matters of interest to youth and plans monthly activities of benefit to the community.

`Old-style' GED exam sign-ups end Friday

PECOS, Dec. 5, 1996 - Individuals wishing to register to take the GED exam have until Friday to do so.

GED testing, the final ones under the current system, will take place beginning on Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon.

"They have three choices in taking the exam, they can come in on Saturday morning, or Monday or Tuesday evening," said Michelle Workman.

The current GED requirements will change in January of 1997.

"The test itself will be the same, but the actual passing requirements are what is going to change for the coming year," said Workman.

Currently individuals were required to make a 40 or above to pass a certain exam, Begining in January, the new requirement will be that they have to make a 40 or above on the exam, but have a combined average of 45 or above in order to receive the GED.

"This is all the exams combined, which includes five of them," said Workman.

In other words, individuals will have to earn a higher score on each exam to make their average higher and to receive the GED diploma.

Hearing set on W. Texas road project

Roadway improvement is now the focus of a study that once included a proposed north-south interstate highway.

The Texas Department of Transportation is asking members of the public to help chart future highway improvements in corridors south from Lubbock to I-10 and from Amarillo north to the state line.

Six public workshop meetings will be held across West Texas, including one next Tuesday, Dec. 10, at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, 5200 E. University Blvd., in Odessa.

The workshop meetings will begin at 7 p.m. and are expected to last about two hours.

They are a key part of Phase 2 of a study which has already identified five corridors but determined that construction of a controlled access freeway with frontage roads from Lubbock to I-10 and Amarillo to the Oklahoma Panhandle is not cost-effective.

TxDOT will spend $1.5 million to determine routes to be improved and the order in which the improvements should be made within each corridor.

The corridor runs from Lubbock to Lamesa, through Midland-Odessa to I-10 near Bakersfield.

Hobbs daily buys out longtime weekly rival

The company said it purchased the weekly Flare on Tuesday from Golden West Free Press Inc. of Kermit, Texas. The Flare, published Wednesdays, has a circulation of about 4,000. It will now be published by The Flare Inc., a Sun Publishing subsidiary.

Sun Publishing also owns the News-Sun, which has a daily circulation of about 12,000.

Golden West Free Press Inc. will retain ownership of its other weeklies, the Jal Record and the Winkler County News at Kermit.

Rick McLaughlin was publisher of The Flare. No new publisher of The Flare has been named, and McLaughlin declined comment on the purchase.

Although owned by the same company, News-Sun Publisher Kathi Bearden said the two Hobbs newspapers will remain independent and be run separately.

Instead of being printed in Kermit, though, The Flare will now be printed on the presses at the News-Sun.

Agnes Kastner Head founded The Flare in 1948 after a dispute with the News-Sun. The News-Sun publisher at that time, Tom Summers, refused to run advertising for Mrs. Head's husband, who was running for Hobbs mayor and eventually won the office, the News-Sun reported Wednesday.

After Mrs. Head's death in 1992, her family sold the newspaper to Golden West Free Press Inc. in 1993.

Her son, C.J. Head, said the family approves of the sale to the News-Sun.

``I think the paper will improve,'' he said.

And The Flare remaining independent of the News-Sun, he said, would retain his mother's goal of a second voice in Hobbs.

The Flare is named after a Phillips Petroleum gas flare that Mrs. Head said guided her to Hobbs one evening several years before she began the paper.

Clinton picks Albright, Cohen for Cabinet posts

By RON FOURNIERAssociated Press WriterWASHINGTON (AP) - Settling on his second-term national security team, President Clinton today chose U.N. ambassador Madeleine Albright to be the first female secretary of state and Republican Sen. William Cohen to be his defense secretary.

A senior White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said Clinton had decided to name Anthony Lake, his national security adviser, to be the new CIA director. Sandy Berger, Lake's deputy, will move up to the top spot.

Clinton planned to announce the choices this afternoon. The appointments of Albright, Cohen and Lake would be subject to Senate confirmation; Berger's would not.

Secretary of State Warren Christopher and Defense Secretary William Perry are resigning. The decision means CIA director John Deutch is probably out of a job in the second term. He had been mentioned as a candidate to replace Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary, but aides no longer expect that to happen.

Though the appointments of Lake and Berger amount to a second-term reshuffling, the nominations of Albright and Cohen are trailblazing.

Albright, whose family fled the communist takeover of Czechoslovakia when she was a child, would be the first woman to hold America's senior diplomatic post. The selection of Cohen, the retiring Maine lawmaker, is in keeping with Clinton's promise to include Republicans in his administration.

Albright's selection comes amid mounting pressure from women's groups, who argued that Clinton's re-election was due in large part to his support from female voters. Both top choices reflect the influence of Vice President Al Gore, who supported Cohen and who needs female voters for his planned presidential race four years from now.

Other details about the president's new national security team:

- Albright, 59, is a naturalized American citizen, the daughter of a Czech diplomat whose family moved from Czechoslovakia to the United States when she was 11. As U.N. ambassador, she has been known as a hawk on Bosnia intervention and NATO expansion.

She is considered hard-working and outspoken, a Washington insider who came from the academic world to the Clinton administration in 1992. Some question her credentials as a strategic global thinker, and Clinton may have opened himself to questions on that score.

- Cohen, 56, is a Republican moderate who announced earlier this year that he was retiring from the Senate after three terms. He rose to national prominence when he cast one of the first GOP votes to impeach President Nixon and later played a leading role in the Iran-Contra hearings.

He established a reputation for independence in the Senate, a trait he demonstrated most forcefully in recent years when he became the only Republican last year to vote against the GOP plan to balance the budget over seven years.

- Lake, 57, is a reserved New Englander who has eschewed the spotlight as Clinton's national security adviser. The author of five books on foreign policy, Lake served in the State Department in both the Nixon and Carter administrations. Before joining the Clinton administration, he had been teaching international relations at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Mass., and raising 28 head of cattle on his farm.

As his name rose to the top of the CIA list, some aides wondered if Lake's mild manner was suited for the rough and tumble CIA stewardship.

- Berger, 51, worked in Lake's shadow as deputy national security adviser but won Clinton's respect for his consensus building and organizational abilities. He is respected for his ability to straddle the intersection of politics and foreign affairs, but there are questions about his credentials for molding foreign policy.

Before joining the Clinton administration, he worked as an international trade attorney and partner at a major Washington law firm. Like Lake, he worked in the Carter administration - as deputy director of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff from 1977 to 1980.

Aides said Clinton's thinking has solidified on other Cabinet posts, but no more announcements are expected this week.

Clinton's decision ends weeks of speculation, as candidates ran hot and cold with nearly every presidential meeting or telephone call.

Finalists for the secretary of state job included Democratic Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia; former Senate Democratic leader George Mitchell; Richard Holbrooke, who helped negotiate the Bosnia settlement, and Thomas Pickering, former ambassador to Russia.

Finalists at defense included Nunn, Deutch, Deputy Defense Secretary John White and Deputy Attorney General Jamie Gorelick. Clinton also was said to be considering candidates from the defense industry, such as Bernard Schwartz, chairman of Loral Corp. and a Democratic donor; and Norman Augustine, head of Lockheed Martin Corp.

Albright's selection opens up the U.N. seat. Democratic Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico is a candidate. So are some of the also-rans for secretaries of state and defense, including Holbrooke.

Clinton made his final choices alone in the White House on Wednesday night after the annual Congressional Ball. He telephoned chief of staff Leon Panetta, who was still at the ball.

AREA ROUNDUP

The Fort Stockton Pioneer

FORT STOCKTON, Nov. 27, 1996 - It won't be long before the beginning of the Christmas holiday season - in fact, it may have already begun for many of us. People are already getting ready, painting yard signs, hanging up lights and decorating trees. One special tree has been set-up and decorated in the lobby of Pecos County State Bank, on 500 North Main Street. This is the Christmas gift wishes of local foster children. The Giving Tree Project is also sponsored by the Creative Foster Care Coalition and several area businesses. the public participates in the project by visiting the tree location in their community, and selecting one of the brightly-colored paper ornaments that decorate the tree. On the reverse side of the ornament is the foster child's first name, age, and the child's Christmas gift wish. Once you purchase the gift you return it unwrapped to the Giving Tree location in the bank lobby.

Jeff Davis County Mountain Dispatch

FORT DAVIS, Nov. 27, 1996 - There's no place like home - just ask the Littles, who were given permission last week to bring daughter Bali home after an 11-week stay in Odessa Medical Center's state-of-the-art facility for premature babies. Ron, Kim and brother Braden Little had been told Bali would be lucky to come home by Christmas, but the 11-week-old fighter improved so rapidly doctors changed their minds and allowed her to grab a spot at the Thanksgiving table. Bali, born Sept. 6 and 26 weeks premature, weighed only one pound, 14 ounces at birth. She's grown to four pounds now, and improving steadily.

The Big Bend Sentinel

MARFA, Nov. 27, 1996 - Fort Davis ISD Superintendent Ernesto Martinez was offered and has accepted the superintendent's position at Sonora ISD. Sonora school board members last week voted 6-0 to offer Martinez the job, and Fort Davis school board members Tuesday night accepted Martinez' resignation. Martinez will be on duty January 1, 1997. Meanwhile Fort Davis school board members will begin the search for a new superintendent or an interim superintendent. Last week, the resignation of Presidio Superintendent David Simmons was accepted Presidio school board members. Simmons, on January 1, 1997, will become Wimberly ISD superintendent.

The Alpine Avalanche

ALPINE, Nov. 27, 1996 - The 1996 Christmas Greeting issue of the Alpine Avalanche is scheduled for December 24. The paper will be printed on Monday night December 23 and distributed to local mail and newsstands on Tuesday, November 24, which is Christmas Eve. This issue will include all the letters to Santa Claus from students in Alpine, Marathon, Terlingua and San Vicente schools.

The International, Presidio Paper

PRESIDIO, Nov. 27, 1996 - U.S. Customs Service inspectors performing Operation Hard line inspections at the Presidio port of entry made two marijuana seizures last Wednesday (Nov. 20). Presidio Customs inspectors have now seized 543 pounds of marijuana in seven enforcement actions since the beginning of the month. The seized drugs have an estimated street value of $543,000.

Sanderson Times

SANDERSON, Nov. 27, 1996 - Two new buildings are being constructed in Sanderson. Gene Phelps and his son, Raymond are constructing a building just west of the Border Patrol station on U.S. 90 west. THe building will be an auto repair facility. Mrs. Leslie Couch is having a building built on the northeast corner of Oak Street and Wilson Street, the future home of Sanderson Tire Center. The steel auto repair building is yet in the early stages of construction with most of the wall supports and the roof in place over the concrete slab. The concrete slab for the new location of the tire center was poured the latter part of last week.

The Monahans News

MONAHANS, Nov. 27, 1996 - Monahans telephone subscribers had an opportunity to expand long distance free service to five west Texas cities for one price - an extra $3.50 a months for residential telephone service, $7 a month for businesses. They said no. In-mail balloting conducted by the state, voters said they wanted expanded local calling only to Odessa, according to records released on Friday, Nov. 22, by the Public Utility Commission of Texas. That vote means subscribers said they were willing to pay the extra tariff just for Odessa, although they could have had all five, including Odessa, for the same money.

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